Humans are social animals. For numerous years they have been evolved to be aware of their environment and act accordingly. The group environment affects the fundamental ways of their thinking. They say unimaginable things and do unthinkable things. Some are good, some are bad, and some are purely evil. The Milgram Experiment and Stanford Prison Experiment (Zimbardo) shows the dark side of human nature and demonstrates that under the social pressure, even a truly rational person can ignore his moral conviction and act evil.
Milgram theorized that people obey to cruel orders not because they are evil but to accommodate the situational pressure. Therefore, under the authority of certain situation even the well-educated and rational people can …show more content…
The guards worked 8 hours per day, and the prisoner stayed in jail for 24 hours. During the experiment, the prisoners developed a pattern of dependency, and the guards became sadistic and abusive. Prior to the experiment all of them were just typical students, but their new roles and uniforms affected their identity and personality as well. The experiment shows that how the sense of belongings and social roles can affect human behavior. Personality changes brought about by a uniform are often noticeable in police departments. Police brutality is a continuous issue in the US, and it means that police officers who have normal personalities can become aggressive when they wear uniforms.
The above two experiments are the most well spread and accepted experiments about obedience of people to authority. However, some scholars present critical evaluations of them that challenges their relevance to our society. According to Ian Nicholson, the Milgram Experiment was experimented in the US, and its result is affected by the US’s macho culture at the time. He also mentioned squared distrust and skepticism prevalent at the culture as the experiment became popular
Milgram theorized that people obey to cruel orders not because they are evil but to accommodate the situational pressure. Therefore, under the authority of certain situation even the well-educated and rational people can …show more content…
The guards worked 8 hours per day, and the prisoner stayed in jail for 24 hours. During the experiment, the prisoners developed a pattern of dependency, and the guards became sadistic and abusive. Prior to the experiment all of them were just typical students, but their new roles and uniforms affected their identity and personality as well. The experiment shows that how the sense of belongings and social roles can affect human behavior. Personality changes brought about by a uniform are often noticeable in police departments. Police brutality is a continuous issue in the US, and it means that police officers who have normal personalities can become aggressive when they wear uniforms.
The above two experiments are the most well spread and accepted experiments about obedience of people to authority. However, some scholars present critical evaluations of them that challenges their relevance to our society. According to Ian Nicholson, the Milgram Experiment was experimented in the US, and its result is affected by the US’s macho culture at the time. He also mentioned squared distrust and skepticism prevalent at the culture as the experiment became popular